Jeff and
Dr. John Lamberton's BLOGAbout the Global Sport of Racing
Pigeons

"Competing At The Top Of The Race Sheet Is Simply A
Matter Of Faith . . .
You Can Depend On The Reliability OfA Small Team of Super
Pigeons, or
You Can Gamble On The Random Luck Of A Mob Of Average Pigeons."

When I open a pigeon magazine, I often see numerous
products that are advertised for sale to boost your pigeons racing ability.In this blog I will suggest some ideas that
will help your pigeons race at the top of the results sheet that you are not
able to purchase.

PASSION

Passion for your racing pigeons is free. You cannot buy passion for your
pigeons or the racing pigeon sport on the shelves of your favorite racing
pigeon feed or supply store. Passion is priceless. Take my friend Tim
Hawkins of Arrowhead Loft East as an example of a fancier that understands
the role of passion in the racing pigeon sport. Tim recently posted this
quote on his Facebook page:

“I
know I’m probably ahead of what most people are thinking right now,
but it’s almost breeding season!!! The first thing I do is re-read
Dr. Lamberton's archived blogs. DO YOURSELF A HUGE FAVOR.....go to www.drjohnlamberton.comscroll
down to the "BLOG" section, then click on "ARCHIVED BLOGS", then to
start at Nov 2010!!!!!!!”

Tim is already thinking about breeding season. He is currently coupling his
pigeons on paper to decide which pairs just might produce a super racing
pigeon – a Crack as fanciers often say in Belgium. Tim is already developing
a plan for the upcoming breeding season because he wants to breed young
birds that will race next year in front of the mob! Through the ups and
downs, never lose your passion.

EFFORT

You have to decide what
your goals are. No one can make you clean your loft, train your pigeons, or
study what the successful fanciers in the sport are doing to fly at the top
of the race sheet. It is all in your mind and up to you.No one else can do it for you.

Fanciers
occasionally call or email the same basic question “what is the secret to
consistently racing well?” We tell them that there are no secrets. Racing
consistently in the top 10 to 20 percent of the race sheet is founded on
well-known historical fundamentals
such as top quality pigeons, a clean, well ventilated loft, fresh water and
clean water drinkers, fresh grit daily, clean top-quality pigeon grain,
daily exercise, and motivating your racers on race day. And, of course, you
also need to believe that these fundamentals really matter and that you can
do it!

BELIEF

Make
a choice, believe in yourself, believe in your plan, and be curious and
willing to learn. That’s the first step. Hard work and practicing consistent
fundamentals on a daily basis will pay off. Since the ARPU national award
was created about eight years ago, our racing pigeons have consistently
raced at the top of the sheet allowing our loft to score in the top ten in
the President’s Cup award.We are passionate with our pigeons and we want
to do the best we can each day to set them up for success on race day or in
the breeding loft. If you truly believe you can do it, it will happen!

“Where ever you live; whoever you are; whatever your
personal appearance; however the sport in your club, combine, federation or
country is organized; whatever your customs and values; whatever your
political views or your religion; the information we like to provide and
promote on our website and social media is available free of charge FOR YOU.
Whether you are a prospective pigeon fancier who wants to learn more about
homing pigeons and the exciting game of racing pigeons - whether you are a
current pigeon fancier who wants to enhance and improve your personal
knowledge and enjoyment of racing pigeons - or you are a member of the
world's general public who knows very little or nothing at all about homing
pigeons and the sport of racing pigeons, the information on our website is
designed and written expressly FOR YOU.”(Written by Dr. John Lamberton).

To be
continued..........................................................Thank
you.................................................................Jeff & John Lamberton

SUMMARY OF 2014 YOUNG BIRD RACE SERIES: SEPTEMBER TO EARLY
NOVEMBER 2014

Since Jeff has partnered with me, his expertise has grown by leaps and bounds.
This past 2014 young bird race series in September through early November,
our racing pigeons were 1st Combine
Champion Loft which encompasses all of the clubs and fanciers in the
Greater Tulsa Metropolitan Area; which is about 40 to 60 fanciers depending
upon how many fanciers participate in a young or old bird race series.
We also won 1st 2nd and 3rd
Combine Ace Pigeon.

In Belgium, pigeon racing begins in late spring,
i.e., April or May, and ends usually in October of the same year.
Classes of racing pigeons are usually divided by age and gender. There
are three classes of racing pigeons based upon age: young birds, yearlings
and old birds which are released at the same day and at the same time.

Usually there is only one release per day. So the three ages of
racing pigeons are competing together against one another in the same race.
Often, another sub-class in a race is between males and females. In
America, we generally do not recognize any of these distinctions either
nationally or in our specific geographical area for many reasons including
the fact that all record-keeping is figured on a volunteer basis and usually
kept to a minimum of effort. In Belgium, the capital of racing homing
pigeons in my estimation, there is a mandatory entry fee per bird which is
paid to the KBDB national organization to offset costs of transporting the
race pigeons and doing the work or business of the club like entering the
pigeons in the races and figuring race results. Thank goodness for
computers. Results used to be calculated by hand or using calculators
rather than today's comfort technology like specialized software and PCs or
other electronic devises.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

TAs I have written in former Blogs, the Racing Pigeon
New Year Calendar in Europe (the racing pigeon capital of the world with
Belgium as it's center-stone followed closely by the Netherlands) began the
first several weeks of November of 2014 as it does each year. In early
November, all breeding or foster pigeons are (1) medicated for worms,
coccidiosis, canker and all respiratory ailments; (2) placed on interior
breeding lights at least 16 hours per day, and (3) pre-mated - especially if
the pair has not been coupled before; and (4) coupled about December 1 of
each year. Prior to coupling each year, nest bowls and nest boxes
should be scraped and sprayed very clean with nest pads and excellent long,
supple pine needles used as nesting material. Needles should be placed
in the bowl and on the loft floor. Great breeders will build their own
nests from the pine needles placed on the floor; but putting a handful
of needles in the nest bowl simply helps get the breeeders start building
their nests several days earlier.

So today,

January 1, 2015, our breeders have already been through a two-month schedule
beginning last November; so most of our best breeders have laid their first
round of eggs; many of which have been or will be moved under "foster
parents" after they laid their first round and their eggs were candled to
make sure that the first-round eggs are fertile. We candle the
eggs by holding them briefly up against a bright light to see if the eggs
are clear or if they are dark which suggests that they are fertile and
healthy. Occasionally, although the eggs are dark, either they do not
develop correctly or the youngster dies in the shell. Consequently, we
may make a mistake in our candling procedures. So candling is not an
exact science; but it works the vast majority of the time. It is a
great waste of time to let your best breeders sit on infertile eggs.
Because we foster our eggs, the eggs for the second round will be laid in
later January and we are able to produce more youngsters out of our best
breeding pairs as well as recouple our best breeders to different mates so
that we have a number of half-brothers and sisters on the young bird race
team. Although the second round will also primarily include children
from our AU ELITE CHAMPIONS and proven champion breeders; and will be flown
in the young bird race series from September to the beginning of November in
Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.

During breeding season, we medicate our breeders about once a month in
order to keep them as healthy as possible. Breeding can be very
stressful depending upon many environmental, management, and health issues
and every precaution should be taken to lessen the impact upon the breeders.
For instance, we feed and administer grit

in the nest box

. We also will water in the nest box when the
youngsters are several weeks of age. Youngsters will learn to eat and
drink weeks earlier than normal which will lessen the strain of feeding on
their parents if they are fed in the nest box.

10.19.2014

We have just finished the 6th-week of an 8-week 2014 fall young bird
race series. We started the race series with an elite team of young hens
selected from the earliest 2014 hatches; coupled in June and July with the older
male widowhood race team; and now we are racing the young hens on widowhood. Since we
primarily race the young males during the old bird race series as unraced
yearlings in addition to a team of older males that have raced previously, the young bird race series is
usually the only time we allow
ourselves the time, effort and investment to gather performance data on the young hens
only "in the basket." Consequently, all of our
young hens 7 to 9 months old need to be able to compete near the top of the race
sheet during the entire young bird
race series as much as possible. We consider placing in the top 20% to 25%
sufficient; although Belgium and Holland as well as other countries in Europe,
undoubtedly the most competitive geographical areas to race homing pigeons in
the world, usually award "prizes" to racing pigeons that place in the top
one-third or 33% of the number of pigeons in the race.

Currently, quite a few of our young hens have performed very
well every week during the past 6 weeks. We hope they continue to perform
well in the longer 300 mile/480 kilometer races over the next two weeks.
The Federation's young bird race schedule includes 2-125 mile races; 2-150 mile
races; 2-200 mile races; and 2-300 mile races. So our race team is going
to compete in two 300 mile/480 kilometer races each week over the next two
weeks. In kilometers, the schedule is 2-200 kilometers, 2-240 kilometer
races, 2-320 kilometer races; and 2-480 kilometer races for a combined total of
2,480 kilometers of racing in 8 weeks of variable fall weather. This BLOG
discusses what we expect of our race team's ability to race at or near the top
of the race sheet each week for 8 weeks as 7 to 9 month-old youngsters and why.

Concerning my own personal theory of
coaching pigeons to be ready to race each week for 8 to 10 weeks, Jimmy Johnson
is the person who I consider to be the greatest coach in sports history. In the
USA, he coached the Miami Hurricanes to a College football National Championship
in 1987; then went on to Pro football to coach the Dallas Cowboys to two Super
Bowl Championships in 1992 and 1993.
My favorite quote from Coach Johnson is “fatigue makes cowards of us all.” I
believe these profound words applyperfectly to the sport of racingpigeons. Pigeon racing rewards the pigeons that
are in superb condition. Pigeons can have the best genetics and handle well in
the hand, but fatigue will turn them into “cowards” on race day.If your pigeons are not in superb condition on
race day, they may be able to be motivated to fly fast for a short time, but
once the debilitating effects of fatigue set racing pigeons will make mistakes.They lose their focus and their motivation to
“race” home starts to waver. The pigeons become tired and they do not have the
same fight.

It is at this point when fatigued pigeons decide to slow down and often stop, or
fly home instead of “race” home. “Fatigue makes cowards of us all"; which
includes pigeons. If you take top quality care of your best racing pigeons, if
you give them space by not overcrowding, if you give them high quality grains
and supplements; if you exercise your pigeons daily around the loft or on the
road; the racing season will be much more fun and enjoyable. But you can only
have success if your pigeons are in great shape. When other pigeons are pulling
up in that final stretch of the race and are coasting home, your pigeons are in
great shape and are racing home. They can handle the obstacles that may come
along in the race because they are in great condition. The pigeons need you to
coach them into great shape the same way Jimmy Johnson coached his Championship
teams into great shape.